The Mystery That Must Be Solved
by SesshyKins
Summary: Sesshomaru is forced to save a young human woman's life when she protects Rin from demons that threaten her life. The Great Lord allows the young woman to travel with his group. The onna turns out to be a great mystery, one that Sesshomaru was more than determined to figure out. Love blooms eventually in the most unlikely of places.
1. Protection

**I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters. Except the ones I make up, but that will be a couple chapters down the road.**

**The plot of this story does **_**not **_**follow the plot of Inuyasha at all. So don't get bent out of shape when you see what happens.**

Chapter 1-Protection

_Protection- __A person or thing that prevents someone or something from suffering harm or injury._

"Lord Sesshomaru!"

The Western Lord's ears perked up at the voice of his young ward, Rin. She sounded distressed.

"LORD SESSHOMARU!"

Hn, definitely distressed.

The Great Dog Demon was quickly on his feet and running in the direction he knew Rin to be.

Unfortunately, she was several miles away from him. Sesshomaru mentally kicked himself for allowing her to wander so far away.

No matter, he'd be there in minutes.

"HELP, PLEASE!" The little girl's scream met his ears. He narrowed his eyes and sped up.

The Lord could now feel several demonic auras. They must be attacking poor Rin.

Where was that insufferable fool, Jaken?

He snarled as he caught scent on Rin's blood. Every one of them would pay with their lives.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Sesshomaru's steps almost faltered at the strong female voice. It was like honey. Those three words were enough to send every nerve in the Dog Demon's body to attention.

Wait... What was he thinking?! At a time like this?! The Great Lord Sesshomaru _never _obsessed over _anyone_! And he wasn't about to start now.

As he neared the clearing where Rin was, he caught the scent of another human. And more blood that wasn't Rin's. The scent of the blood was sweet, with a hint of orange. _Strange_, Sesshomaru thought, _it does not hold the disgusting rust smell_.

Mentally shaking the thought from his head, the Lord burst into the clearing to the sight of his ward several yards behind a young woman. Rin was bleeding from several wounds on her arms, stomach, and head. Fortunately, they weren't too serious.

The woman on the other hand, was much worse off, and looked like she was going to pass out at any moment. Strangely enough, she held an oddly determined expression on her face. Her clothes were torn and bloodied beyond repair. She had a deep gash through her stomach and chest and four long scratch marks marring her face. She also had blood spurting out of various cuts on her body, leaking the pure snow crimson.

If it weren't for the blood and the wounds, Sesshomaru might have thought her to be mildly attractive. Though, he could hardly make out her features through the thick layers of blood running down her body, even with his demonic eyesight.

One of the many demons standing in front of the woman, a boar demon, launched itself at her, the blood lust plain in his eyes. She stood her ground, didn't flinch and didn't show an ounce of fear. The Mighty Taiyoukai could not even smell fear on her.

_Is she stupid, or is she truly that courageous?_

The boar demon roared at the fact that he was not feared, he grabbed the _onna_ by her throat and slammed her head into a nearby tree.

The _onna _immediately was knocked unconscious.

"Lord Sesshomaru! Please, don't let her die! She protected Rin!" Came Rin's desperate voice.

_She protected Rin? But why? Rin gave no indication that she knew the _onna. _Could she have done it for no reason but to help? _No. Humans were selfish, vile creatures. They would never save anyone and put their lives at risk. Not even their own species.

The boar demon raised it's hand, it's claws glinting in the sun, and prepared for the final blow.

**I will continue this story if I get 2 or more **_**positive **_**reviews. (:**


	2. Temptation

**I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters. Except the ones I make up, but that will be a couple chapters down the road.**

**The plot of this story does **_**not**_** follow the plot of Inuyasha at all. So don't get bent out of shape when you see what happens.**

**I want to thank everyone for their reviews, they all mean so much to me! I will acknowledge the people who review in the next chapter, I'm sorry I didn't do it in this one.**

**I wasn't sure if anyone would like my story, so it means a lot to hear that you all do.**

**Please, if you read this and like it, review. It makes me want to continue writing. **

**(:**

Chapter 2-Temptation

_Temptation- __A desire to do something, especially wrong or unwise._

Making up his mind, Sesshomaru quickly beheaded the offensive demon before he could kill the woman.

The other demons roared in outrage and starting charging at the Taiyoukai.

Before any of them could blink, Sesshomaru had killed them with his acid whip, beheading all of them much like the first. The decapitated bodies fell limply to the ground while the heads rolled feet away.

He glared down at the unconscious girl now laying at his feet, her hair-a dark, muddy brown-fanned across his boots.

The Lord had half a mind to kill her himself-simply because she dared to be so close to his person.

_How dare she?_

It mattered not that she was unconscious, it would make it easier. The stupid little woman would not fight and she wouldn't even feel the pain-it's the least he could do since she saved Rin.

Perhaps he would snap her neck-quick, clean, and easy-, or-

The Lord was brought out of his reverie by Rin running over to the girl with tears in her eyes.

"Pretty Lady, Pretty Lady! Lord Sesshomaru, is she okay?" Rin looked up at her Lord with eyes glazed with unshed tears.

He scowled down at the woman, hating her irrationally for unknown reasons.

_'Pretty Lady'? This girl isn't 'pretty' in the least. She is ugly to say the least. She isn't even attractive enough to be within a 100 mile radius of this one._

"She is fine, Rin." Sesshomaru stated tonelessly.

The little girl had the nerve to look relieved.

"Can she stay with us until she gets better, Lord Sesshomaru?"

The Dog Demon opened his mouth to bark out a negative. (No pun intended).

"Abosl-"

He was cut off by Rin's wail, her bottom lip quivering slightly, "Please, Lord Sesshomaru! She'll die if not! Please!" The tears spilled down her face.

Suddenly the temptation to kill the woman got even stronger.

"Rin-"

He was once again cut off. "I won't go without her! She saved Rin and now she needs our help! Please!" She was absolutely bawling now.

The Taiyoukai let out a frustrated growl, glaring daggers at the woman.

"Fine, she will stay until she heals." His voice was calm, as usual. It masked the frustration he felt well.

"Yay! Thank you, Lord Sesshomaru!" Rin cried, running to hug her Lord's legs tightly.

"Hn. Rin, where is Jaken?"

"Oh! He's in the forest somewhere, he tried to protect Rin but one of the demons kicked him."

"Hn. Taken out by a simple kick. How pathetic." He spoke to himself.

"He will find his way to camp eventually." He spoke to Rin.

The Lord bent down and threw the still unconscious girl over his shoulder roughly. Frowning in displeasure when he seen his perfect white outfit get stained in red from her blood.

"Come, Rin. Let us find a camp. Away from here." He really didn't want to smell any more blood than necessary.

**Well, that's it for this chapter!**

**Remember, 2 or more **_**positive **_**reviews and I'll continue!**

**Thanks for reading!**

**(:**

**Oh, and, there should be a second chapter out this week since it took me so long to get this one up.**

**C:**


	3. Mother

**I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters. Except the ones I make up, but that will be a couple chapters down the road.**

**The plot of this story does **_**not **_**follow the plot of Inuyasha at all. So don't get bent out of shape when you see what happens.**

Chapter 3- Mother

_Mother- __Bring up (a child) with care and affection._

"Rin, stay away from that petty woman." Sesshomaru's emotionless voice filled the air.

"But, my Lord, her wounds-" Rin, who was getting ready to dress the woman's wounds, started.

"I care not. I will not repeat myself."

"Yes milord. May I go look for some food?" Rin inquired.

"You may. Look for Jaken while you are away." Sesshomaru requested.

"Okay!" With that, she ran into the foliage and out of sight.

Sesshomaru repressed a sigh, glancing at the woman. He vaguely wandered if she was dead from blood loss. He dismissed the idea immediately, for her chest continued to rise and fall with her even breathing.

He studied her, trying to figure out exactly what she looks like. Which wasn't easy given her battered state.

He gave up with a frustrated growl. The urge to kill her grew stronger than ever, he had to battle it with ever fiber of his being.

Maybe it'd go away if he _did _kill her. He could just tell Rin she woke up and walked off. She still wouldn't feel any pain. He could always-

"Milord! Milord!" Jaken's unmistakable squawk met his sensitive canine ears.

The dog demon suppressed a growl, he really wished those demons would've done more than knock him unconscious. The lord couldn't exactly do it himself- he did have his honour to uphold.

"Milord! I'm sorry, Milord! I tried to protect Rin." The quivering Jaken stuttered, teary-eyed.

"Silence, Jaken. Rin had already informed me of this."

"Sh-She had, Milord?" Jaken asked. Just then, Rin ran into the clearing with 3 fish, her face lit up like the sun when she seen the toad youkai.

"Master Jaken, you're alright!" She ran up to him and dropped the fish before wrapping her arms around him in a tight embrace.

"Yes, foolish girl, I'm fine. Now get off me you _ningen_!" Jaken yelled, blushing furiously.

"Yes Master Jaken!" Rin chirped, letting go of the toad. She picked up the fish and proceeded to cook it.

"Lord Sesshomaru? Will the pretty lady be alright?" Rin asked, concerned as she gazed over at the still unconscious girl.

Jaken, who had passed out from exaustion, stirred slightly but didn't wake.

"I do not know; nor do I care, Rin." The demon lord stated stoically.

...

**Rin's POV**

Rin gently tugged Ah-Un's reins so they would stand and move. She led them over to where the girl was laying and had them lie down behind her. Rin gently leaned the woman against the two-headed dragon for warmth, before making a bed out of leaves so she, also, could lie down. After settling in, she quickly fell alseep.

**~Dream Mode~**

_Rin hugged her new mother, tears of joy seeping out of her eyes. She laughed/sobbed into her mother's neck. She gently ran her fingers through Rin's hair, hugging her and murmuring soothing words in her ear._

_Rin loved her new mother, even if she wasn't the same as Rin. She was nice, and sweet, and kind. She didn't back down, she was never afraid, and she always voiced her opinion._

_Rin pulled away, and tried to look in her mother's face, but found she couldn't. Her face was blank, no features, no color. Rin was confused but didn't voice her concerns._

_"Mama, let's go play!" Rin wanted to run with the woman who had earned her love, wanted to play with her._

_Rin knew that, had she had a face, she would have smiled when she nodded._

_The girl and the woman started to play, running and laughing, tickling and chasing. If someone would have seen them right then, they would have sworn they were truly mother and daughter, despite the difference in breed. The two females stopped playing when they seen someone enter the clearing. The both -would have- grinned when they seen it was Lord Sesshomaru. He looked just as handsome and majestic as he always did, the only difference being his face. It showed happiness and love where the usual stoic mask used to be. He walked forward, smiling when he reached them. Rin hugged his leg tightly, and he put his hand atop her head while drawing the woman into a loving embrace._

**~Dream End~**

**Sorry for not updating in so long! I've been busy with the start of school and everything. I hope you guys can forgive me!**

**Okay, now to answer some reviews.**

**Arrianna Blood: Like I've stated, this story does not follow the anime. She never falls down the well- you'll understand later on in the story. Later on- Kagome tells her tale, so bear with me, okay? I will say that he 'does' still lose his arm by Yash.**

**And a thanks to the following people!**

**Kiku Honda of Japan**

**Ancient One**

**Guest-?**

**Fairy Flame Key**

**LoveInTheBattleField**

**Raven's Serenity**

**yuki-eevee**

**Hanamaki**

**amari**

**Tigerstar's Fire and Heart**

**jensenkent**

**Lady Dark Demoness**

**and, princesslolitatheorca654!**

**Thank all of you for your support on my story! 33**


	4. Shocked

**I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters. Except the ones I make up, but that will be a couple chapters down the road.**

**The plot of this story does **_**not **_**follow the plot of Inuyasha at all. So don't get bent out of shape when you see what happens.**

Chapter 4- Shocked

_Shocked- Cause (someone) to feel surprised and upset._

**The Woman's POV**

The girl woke up with a pounding headache and an aching body. She struggled to open her eyes, wondering why she was still alive. She remembered trying to protect the little girl.

Little Girl!

The woman bolted upright, her eyes looking around wildly.

When her eyes landed on the little girl, she instantly relaxed, slumping back against whatever she was sitting by. She let out a breath she wasn't aware she'd been holding.

But the woman was curious. Who'd saved her and the little girl? Where was she? Were they safe? They seemed to be but she wasn't sure.

Finally she gave into the urge and looked around the clearing she was in.

She first noticed a little green toad thingy leaning against a staff that had two heads carved in it at the top.

She turned slightly and looked behind her, seeing she was leaning against a dragon with two heads. One was asleep while the closest to her was staring at her.

She reached out and gently patted him in between the eyes. He let out a low purr-like noise. She looked around again, startled to find a pair of bright golden eyes staring at her intensely. The depths of them was amazing. On the surface, they were blank, stoic. But looking deeper into the golden orbs, she could see curiosity and confusion. She could also see more than a little annoyance in his gaze.

She blinked twice, slowly.

"Mmm... Momma..." The little girl muttered in her sleep.

The woman looked away from the Inu demon to glance at the little girl. She was once again startled to find her shivering from the cold.

The girl stood, feeling a slight tug at her torso, but ignored it, instead opting to go over to the child and kneel. She quietly tucked the thin blanket around the quivering girl. The blanket was previously around the girl's waist, she pulled it up to her chin.

That's when the woman seen her bloodied hands. She stared at them for moment before standing up. She looked down at herself, taking in her battered state. She was surprised to find herself bleeding, the red liquid soaking her shirt from the wound in her stomach.

She listened, trying to figure out if there was a-

_ Ah... There it is._

She turned in the direction of the hotspring, pausing before she could start walking. She shifted, trying to feel a familiar weight on her back. When she didn't feel it, she looked back around the camp. When she spotted her bag beside the dragon, she quickly walked over and picked it up, settling it on her back, before continuing to the springs.

**Sesshomaru's POV**

He'd been watching her sleep all night, trying to figure out the mystery that she posed.

Never had he ever encountered a ningen that would risk their life for another. Not even pure-hearted Rin would put her life on the line for another. Even demonesses would rather hand over a fellow demon than help someone else. Half-Breeds were even worse, they would kill their friends themselves without a second thought if they had the notion to.

But this woman-she almost died protecting Rin. Why? She didn't get anything out of it.

Sesshomaru was abruptly brought out of his thoughts when the girl suddenly bolted upright, ripping open a wound in her stomach in the process. She didn't seem to notice. He watched her look around wildly for something. When her eyes landed on Rin, she instantly relaxed back against Ah-Un and seemed to sigh in relief.

_Was she looking for Rin?_

He didn't think she would worry about Rin, that maybe it was a misunderstanding-a mistake, and she wasn't really protecting Rin.

She was looking around the camp now, her eyes lingering on Jaken, before she turned, somehow not hurting herself, and looked behind her to Ah-Un.

The dog demon smirked, surely fear would radiate off her in tremendous waves. She would either faint from fright or scream and run away, run to what she thought to be safety, away from the horrible two-headed dragon with the red, blood-thirsty eyes. His smirk widened thinking of the possibilities and the terror he would surely see in her eyes.

The Lord was beyond shocked when she reached up and patted one of the dragon's heads. He was even more surprised when the dragon purred.

_What the hell?_

Ah-Un despised anyone who dared lay hand on him-he often killed the offender much like Sesshomaru himself. The dragon even hated Run, but put up with her because of his Lord.

Seeing Ah-Un acting so friendly with a complete stranger was really surprising for the demon lord who knew the dragon youkai for many centuries.

Sesshomaru was snapped out of his thoughts again when he realized the girl was staring directly at him. He was disgruntled when he seen, nor scented, any fear from her. Or any emotion for that matter. Her face was exactly like Sesshomaru's. Completely void of any emotion. What was it about this girl? Why does she show no emotion? If it were anyone else, they'd be quaking in fear. Even little Rin would be extremely uncomfortable under his intense gaze.

_Why the hell doesn't she fear me?_ Sesshomaru was now annoyed and irritated. Two emotions he despised.

He watched the girl blink twice at him, slowly. Still not showing any emotion at all.

"Mmm... Mamma..." Rin's voice broke through the thick silence.

Both he and Mystery-whom he nicknamed the girl- looked to her to see her shivering violently. Normally the Lord would have ignored it, but the woman seemed to have other plans.

Mystery was quickly on her feet and- _wait a minute... She tore open the wound in her stomach yet she doesn't even act like she noticed. _The smell of _fresh_ blood was pungent in the air, filling Sesshomaru's sensitive nose. Had it been anyone else's, it would have overrode his senses and he would have quickly left the area. But, this woman's blood wasn't like anyone else's. Her blood didn't have the scent of iron in it, instead it had a hint of oranges.

Sesshomaru watched the woman closely for any signs of discomfort or pain. But, as she kneeled beside Rin and pulled the covers over her, he saw no signs. It was as if she didn't know she'd done it.

He watched as she saw her hands, caked in dried blood. She stood up and looked down at herself. He seen a quick flash of surprise in her eyes before it disappeared. If he had blinked, he wouldn't have seen it.

_She really didn't know she was bleeding. Had she not felt any pain?_

She stood there a moment, watching the thick red liquid pour out of her body.

The Dog Demon watched as she turned East and shifted meaningfully- this confused the Lord greatly- before turning to look around the camp once more. She completely ignored the deadly Inu sitting not ten feet away as she walked over and picked up a strange pack before turning back East and walking away. Sesshomaru surmised that she went to the hot spring a ways from the camp.

_ How could she tell it was there? Even with this Sesshomaru's demonic hearing, it is difficult for him to hear it._

_ This woman is turning out to be quite the mystery._

_ And this Sesshomaru __lives __to solve mysteries._

**Okay! Another chapter done. I hope you like it!**

**Please review, tell me if you like it. Even if you don't, please, tell me!**

**I must apologize for not updating in so long. I'm currently in a position where I do not have the Net.**

**You see, the 6th of this month I moved to a different state to live with relatives and they don't have the Internet or anything. I may be able to update every other weekend until we get the Net back. Not making any promises though!**

**Thanks again!**

**P.s.:**

**"Down The Rabbit Hole- Again" will have to wait awhile. I haven't gotten the chance to write in that one!**

**P.p.s:**

**None of my other chapters should be this long. **

**Thanks!**


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